Inside the New York Yankees clubhouse with MLB.com beat writer Bryan Hoch.

Back on the road again

I’m back on the road again, it’s time I leave you now
And maybe I’ll see you next time, that I’m around

It’s not too often you get a chance to quote REO Speedwagon. Doesn’t it just seem like we all spent seven weeks living out of a suitcase in Tampa, or is it just me? I’ll try again to master the art of passing through airport security beginning this afternoon, as most of the New York beat flies ahead to Kansas City.

If you’re wondering why the Yankees are playing a 7:05 p.m. ET game on what is supposed to be a getaway day, with a 4:10 p.m. ET game scheduled the next day for the Royals’ season opener, you’re not alone. The answer is ESPN2, but that doesn’t make it any easier of a trip for those flying commercial, especially to Kansas City, a place where it’s difficult to go direct. Anybody got any dining suggestions for O’Hare?

After tonight’s game at Yankee Stadium, this is the beginning of a long stretch on the road that will be the Yankees’ first real test. After three games in Kansas City, they travel on to Boston for a three-game weekend series, then down to Tampa for a pair at Tropicana Field. From there, it’s back to New York, but only briefly — it might as well be a road series, playing two games against the Red Sox.

Baltimore, Chicago and Cleveland await after that. If the weather holds in every city, the Yankees will have a chance to exhale on April 21, their only scheduled off-day this month.

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89 Comments

Lets just hope that Jeter is alright and won’t miss a considerable amount of time. The last thing I want to see is Bet”I strike out 4 more times tonight”amit starting at ss for 1 game, let alone get 2 ABs in a game. He’s the last thing a team who is struggling offensively like the Yanks are needs. Having him in the lineup is the same as starting a game with an 8-man lineup. This team needs a more viable option as a utility player which it had in Woodward until he was cut, nice move!!!

I agree with chaz, and joe about Chamberlain, especially joe, since he is a former pitcher who has better insight than anyone else on this blog about pitching with his past experience. Of course, the Proctor trade was a mistake, I’ve been saying that since Day 1. The Yanks made a Cardinal mistake by trading something as valuable as a relief pitcher for a part time player like Betamit, who by the way will never improve as a player. Andrew Brackman is done for the season as he is recovers from TJ surgery, his career won’t start until next season. Karstens, Igawa, and Rasner have shown time, after time, after time that they are nothing but garbage. There are viable options as closers in Sanchez, Cox. Melancon only has 7 innings of experience in the minors after TJ surgery so don’t be surprised not to see him this season, no need to rush a player who is coming back from surgery.

The thing is, this team still doesn’t have a legit long man, maybe Ohlendorf can be that guy, I don’t want to see a shaky pen get burnt out later in the season when it will be needed most, especially if this team hopes to limit innings for Hughes, and Kennedy, and Chamberlain.

chaz, Ohlendorf, or later in season Sanchez, might be 8th inning power alternative to Joba.

Meanwhile, Mussina, who was one pitch short of out for “quality start” in first game, just pitched great 6 innings, for Win 251. Will he be a Post-Season Starter, unlikely, but an important innings eater 4th or 5th starter for 2008.

Bruney looks like 2006 version. Ohlendorf has great potential. Tabler yet to be tested. Patterson, who should have made team, awaits in AAA, as does Albaledjo and maybe Ramerez. Not to mention starter/reliever candidates Horne, Marquez (and maybne Igawa, White, Rasner and DL’s Karstens).

Then there is the late season potential of TJ surgery recoveries Sanchez, Melancon and Cox.

McCutchen likely to see “the show” before it’s year too.

Gotta love the way Cahman has stocked ARMS since given control, and I didn;t even mention Brackman and Betances for this year.

This kills 2 birds with one stone. Moose is older, so now he can give you his best stuff for fewer innings because he’s not being counted on to go 180 IP this year. Why is this not being done? Even further, Give Moose 125 IP, and have him take a few of Pettite’s starts as well.

How do any of you know whether or not Chamberlain has the stamina to go 7? He hasn’t been used as a starter since last year in AAA. He seemed to be able to go the distance just fine then. Now he’s 20 pounds lighter and he’s only good for 1 or 2? He’s in the pen right now because the rest of our bullpen is ABYSMAL. That is the ONLY reason. If we had 1 more good reliever, the organization would have Chamberlain in the starting rotation faster than Wilson Bet-he couldn’t hit a basketball-amit strikes out.

JOBA CHAMBERLAIN IS NOT A RELIEF PITCHER.
Wilson Betamit for Scott Proctor is the reason why Joba is in the bullpen. Thank you, Brian Cashman. Tony Womack thinks that trade was a bad idea.

The importance of Joba in the pen cannot be understated. There was a stat in a recent blog regarding the number of 1 or 2 run wins that we had last season and it was pathetic. We couldn’t do it. We now have a 7 inning game with a back end BP that can hold a win. If we’re getting number 27, that feature needs to continue.
Moose has had two starts now that EVERYONE here must admit are all we SHOULD expect from him. Especially last night. 6 strong innings of 2 hit, 1 run ball. Bruney (now 20+ pounds LIGHTER and looking MUCH better) did his job. Even Farnsworth showed what kind of pitcher he can be. The stat that ESPN2 put up regarding Farny’s ERA on 0, 1 and 2 days rest was telling – at 2 days, he’s in the 2’s. Now we know how to use him.

I don’t think Chamberlain has the stamina or the finesse to go 7 innings regularly. With 5 starters with the potential to have decent seasons and no dominant setup man I don’t see the argument to move Joba to the rotation.

Plus when Bruney, Hawkins, Traber, whoever does get into trouble (like yesterday), we’re going to need someone to come in get some Ks and be unhittable…somehow I don’t see anyone else filling that role in 2008

There’s a reason why Ramirez has never been given a chance as a starter, has been released twice by the Angels, and was on the scrapheap when the Yanks picked him up. He’s 27 years old, that’s not that young as well. He’s going to have to start developing, and progressing very quickly, and successfully if he is to reinvent himself as a starter if he is to have any type of success as a starter especially since the Yanks already have more talented pitchers who are close to being ready to pitch in the majors. Once again Betemit lived down to his rep. as talentless, useless garbage as a starter. No way should he be starting at any position. The Yanks made a big mistake by keeping that garbage.

Life is so annoying. My friend had tickets to today’s game and I was supposed to go with him. My second cousin twice removed whom I have never ever met before got engaged and my mom forced me to go to the engagement party. Another bash I don’t belong in. My first game of the season—didn’t happen. Is it just me or are tickets so much harder to get these days?
For all those who pronounced him dead. Mussina is alive—and kicking. I love how frantic everyone gets in the beginning of the season when their team doesn’t win. There is like a jillion games left to the season. No one can say oh he’s done well this year, or oh he sucks butt this year…because it hasn’t been a year! Who would have ever thought the tigers would be winless? With all that pitching and hitting. The lifelong formula for baseball was Pitching+ hitting. They have both. I wonder what the problem is.
Is it worth it to use Mo today?

Bruney, or as I like to call him Captain Buffet, has pitched well this year. Everybody deserves a second chance and he nuw has pitched a shutout 7th with a walk. I trust Moose over IPK because he is a thinker on the mound and IPK is a youngster. They’re both good but Moose can bounce back, we’ll have to see about Kennedy. Betemit suck_s huge big ones and he always will. I like Joba as set up until we can get someone pitching well enough to take his place, will it be Bruney? I think we need to trade for someone like Marte or Fuentes to set up Mo. Good to see the Yanks getting hits 8 through 6 innings is a good improvement. Hope Jeter’s groin is ok though. He’s getting an MRI now before the trip to KC.

First of all, it’s definitely not a good sign when Bet “I won’t get a hit tonight”amit starts at 1B. That guy should have been let go instead of Woodward. Bet “I strike out every time up tonight” amit never even showed up for ST. I would rather see Ensberg, Giambi or Duncan starting at 1B over that no-hit wonder, at least they are capable of producing offensively. Too bad the Yanks can’t suspend him for never showing up for a game.

Kennedy is still developing as a major league pitcher, but he is a far better pitcher than Mussina is. Heck, he completely outpitched Mussina late last season who was absolutely garbage, and needed more time off to spend in his rocking chair( hear them bones creak? ). He has nothing left to prove in the minors at all, just because Kennedy had one bad outing doesn’t mean he should be sent down, if that were the case Mussina should have been cut last season or he should be sent down when he has a bad start (which will be coming any time now). Also, Like I said, Edwar Ramirez has no ability as a starter he barely makes it as a reliever.

As for Joba, this is why I was in favor of trading Matsui away in the offseason for relief help. They had a chance with the Giants, and could have gotten two relief pitchers out of it but didn’t push hard enough. It would also be entirely too risky to go after Harden as a starter, with his injury history. He hasn’t started 20+ games since ’04, this team already has a pitcher who might not make it through an entire season in Mussina why add another. If the Yanks do go after him it should only be with the intent of making him a reliever like the Cubs did with Woods. But if they did go after him as a starter this team should dump Mussina, but we all know how I feel about Mussina.

I would be concerned if we are going to go after National League pitching. Why? Because the National League is terrible. It may as well be a AAA League. The pitching is thin, the hitters are thinner, and the AL flat-out owns the NL. Getting a guy from a small market, National League club is a SERIOUS risk. Bringing a guy that plays the Giants 19 times a year into a division where the 3rd place team would finish 1st in ANY other division in MLB? I don’t know…..

I don’t think we should give up on IPK after 1 bad outing. He IS a rookie, after all. Did we not prepare ourselves for our young guys to have some bad games? He looked like crap in that game because he was flustered after getting behind on so many hitters. He’ll come around. Give them more than 1 freaking game to get the feel for it. I would like to see us get Fuentes or Broxton to set-up though. I think we can get Fuentes for a few 2nd tier pitching prospects.

Fact #1 – We NEED Joba in the bullpen right now. The rest of our bullpen either a) stinks, b) is unproven, or c) a little of both

Fact #2 – KEEPING Joba in the bullpen longer than we absolutely have to is a monumental blunder.

Fact #3 – Keeping Joba in the bullpen just because we don’t want to make a move to get someone to fill that spot is a monumental blunder.

Fact #4 – Joba winning 20 games is a better use of his skill than Joba “holding” 50. I’m sorry, but anyone who is putting a starter over a guy out of the bullpen has their priorities ALL f’ed up. Some of you actually would rather see this phenom mired in a bullpen spot? 80, maybe 90 innings pitched over 150 to 200? What?

Fact #5 – Just because the BoSox did this to Jon Papelbon, doesn’t mean we need to follow them like a bunch of sheep. Papelbon is a closer because he has 2 effective pitches….that’s it. Joba has 2 lights out pitches (heater, slider) , 1 great pitch (curveball), and 1 MLB ready pitch (change-up.) What do you do with a guy with 4 pitches in his repetoire? I’ll give you a hint: HE USUALLY THROWS IN THE 1ST INNING.

Thanks for your email Bryan, the only reason I mentioned Harden was because he is about the only one of value speculated to be on the market. Point being, Kennedy is not ready and should have started in triple A.

I think it is unfair at this point to say that our bullpen is totally unreliable. Aside from the Hawkins/Farnsworth meltdown the other night we have kept opponents from scoring. Of course in half of those games we have had the Joba/Mariano one-two punch. I guess we will have to see how things develop but I am not completely pessimistic at this point. Except about Farnsworth. I try to cheer him on and be positive but I just don’t like or trust him.

Between Jeff Weaver and Kevin Brown I would have to say Kevin Brown was worse if only for the incident where he broke his hand punching a wall. How stupid can you be?

Hmmm . . .Kevin Brown’s throw-up-on-your shoes performance vs. The Red Sox in 04 or Jeff Weaver’s hanging breaking ball out of the bullpen vs. the Marlins in the 03 World Series . . . tough call. I gotta go with Kevin Brown, though. Stupid reaction to a situation of his own making (the broken hand) led to his TOTAL ineffectiveness (understatement). Who did we give up for Jeff Weaver? John-Ford Griffin and Ted Lilly? Lilly’s a good pitcher, but not a great pitcher. Griffin is supposed to be a top prospect, but he’s been that way for several years now. You also have to remember, though that if the Yankees don’t trade for Weaver, they can’t trade for Kevin Brown!

Question for everyone. My fiancee loves the Yankees and always had a bad taste in her mouth for two Yankee classics: Jeff Weaver and Kevin Brown. My question is which one left a worse taste in your mouth, and why?

Well, there is nothing set in stone. We may see an entirely different team in June or July. Did anyone accurately predict that Betemit, Duncan, and Ensberg would be on our bench now? And how about the current bullpen cast? Some of our preferences now look like mistakes. Except for keeping Hughes and Melky!

Matt, I hear and respect what your saying, honestly I don’t trust Chamberlain right now as a starter, I mean he about died last year in the playoffs to get out of two, three innings. So I’d like to see him get in his 150 innings in the pen this season, work on the conditioning, stamina and be ready to start next season. And of course Chamberlain could get hurt at any time, the innings cap is just to LOWER the risk of injury, thats all. I have already picked Phil Hughes as my favorite pitcher this season (I called dibs on him last week!), so whatever happens with Chamberlain is cool with me.

I think for now Joba’s in the right spot. I keep hearing that “150 innings as a starter is more valuable than 70 innings as a reliever” argument and I disagree. If you could guarantee that Joba as a starter would go 8 innings every time out and hand the ball over to Mo, I’d agree. However, that’s probably not the case. And seeing as how right now the Yankees don’t have reliable relievers besides you know who, a lot of those 6-7 inning games where Joba leaves with a lead would be wasted. If somehow a few of the current relievers become reliable and/or the Yankees find someone who’s reliable, then you can certainly throw Joba into the rotation. But for now, he’s where they need him most.

I’m agreeing with you. Besides, Joba would need some time to “stretch out” at AAA while converting to starter. How could we stand not having him on the big stage for a few weeks? What a tough choice it would be for which game to watch when Joba would start at SWB!

For now, I like Joba in the bullpen. Anyone else in that situation yesterday and our record would be 2-4. Besides Wang, every starter got one shot. I say wait a couple more starts and if there is definite problems with any of them, then try Joba. Right now there is no other choice. I can’t imagine him as a starter. That’d be weird. I got tickets to tonight’s game!! I’m so excited!

I like having Chamberlain in the setup role as well, but with a somewhat shaky pen he may be somwhat wasted in that role as the rest of the pen liable to blow leads before it gets to the 7th or 8th innings, combine that with the fact that the rotation has some iffy starters in Mussina, and Pettitte as I have said. Having a starter like Chamberlain who can dominate, and shut an opponent is far more valuable than having him in the as a setup many. After all, the Yanks drafted him in the 1st Rd to be a starter. Keeping him in the pen for a whol season would just stunt his growth as a starting pitcher which is what he will be eventually. It’s better to limit his innings now rather than later which would make no sense at all. Another thing, you’re not protecting a pitcher’s future at all by limiting his innings. Injuries have, and always will be a part of this game, they can and will strike at any time. He is just as susceptable to injury now as a reliever as he is as a starter. This team does have other options in its system just as good as him.

Most of the candidates for setup in the Minor Leagues were hurt last year and are still recovering. I think they will not likely be rushed. Melancon will need some time at Double and Triple A and I think he will not see NY this year.

I love having Chamberlain in the setup role (for now), it justs puts my mind at ease, knowing there’s a bridge to Mo that I trust. I’m feeling that the Yankees should leave him there for this season, then next year, try him out as a starter, then bring up Mark Melancon to take over Chamberlain’s role.

There’s no way Chamberlain stays in the pen the whole season, not with iffy pitchers like Mussina, and Pettitte. The Yanks will need to find a replacement for him like a J. Brent Cox or Humberto Sanchez. His talents are just wasted in the pen.

Bryan – I’m a Royals fan – and I’ll be there tomorrow – but I do have to agree that the Yankee$ are getting the shaft, schedule-wise. Next time you have to travel here, though, I recommend flying Midwest Airlines. Daily non-stops from LGA to KC. That way you avoid the nighmare that is O’Hare.

We have to find a replacement for Joba. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 1000 times, we cannot waste Joba’s talent by keeping him as a setup man. Granted we don’t have much of a choice right now, but he is just to good a pitcher to be a reliever. We need his arm in the rotation ASAP.

Is Joba actually going to become a starter this year? Can you imagine not having him in the bullpen? What if Farnsworth came out of the pen to hold a 2-0 lead with a man on third base? I would love to see him as a starter and I have to believe that he would want to start, but it is hard to imagine this year.

Back in time

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